Caught Red-Footed

There was a light dusting of snow outside. It was sunny but bitter cold.  As I did my chores, Tanner sat comfortably on his bed listening to his vacuum purr it's hypnotizing white noise. So while I was scrubbing the bathtub he slipped quietly away. And when I went to check on him the vacuum was still droning but Tanner was not. Then I felt the frosty air creep along the floor...my first clue. The front door was wide open. I knew that the  inmate had escaped. But he left a trail.
Outside in the light dusting of snow was a distinct trail of footprints. I could tell these were Tanner's footprints because 1-they were barefoot prints and 2- they had an abnormally large big toe. The prints led me down the driveway and along the sidewalk to the left. I tracked him quickly, using my amazing skills, and caught up to the escapee just as he barged into the neighbors house. When I caught him he laughed at me! Once in custody I made him walk all the way back home in the cold snow, still barefooted.

A Little Surprise From Iceland

Last August Hailey and I drove around Iceland. We got ourselves a manual transmission type car. As you know, these weird vehicles are almost obsolete. Who would want to buy a car where you have 3 foot pedals and a knobby stick that you have to move around at the exact moment of pushing on one of the foot pedals....inconceivable! Anyhow, luckily I had learned how to drive a stick shift in my youth. But it's been decades. So when we pulled out of the rental car parking lot I made a small fool of myself first by killing the engine and then accidentally peeling out in the gravel like a madman.

Soon we were out on the two lane, nicely paved road that circles the entire country. Usually there was so much to see and so many places to stop. Occasionally there was a long expanse of nothing. And at these times I would put the pedal to the metal, you know, open up the throttle. I sometimes traveled faster than 90km (60mph), no big deal! The roads were great! and flat, and uncrowded. I needed to cover some ground. Along the road we noticed some signs in Icelandic (super long word with crazy cartoon letters) and then a picture of something that looked like a rectangle with two circles in it. Mmmm, that was weird, I said to Hailey. And on we drove.

After nine days of seeing incredible things and having a wonderful time Hailey and I returned home to Utah. Three months later I received a letter from Iceland. I thought it was going to be a thank you letter from their public relations people or a survey to see how much I loved their country. Cheerfully I opened the letter. The heading was suspicious, NOTIFICATION OF FINE. And there was a phony looking stamp on the bottom.

Oh and they wanted me to put money in their "bank account"....
AND THEN I TURNED THE PAGE!



Hey, That's ME! I'll be darned if I didn't get a photo speeding ticket!

If I Had Half a Brain!

Ahhhh...Life uninhibited! I'm sure many people wish to live this next year free of insecurity, free of judgement and free of expectations. I think the only way for us to do that is to kill half of our brain. Mostly I think of how nice it must be for Tanner. His brain has empty parts. His brain has parts that are scarred  and underdeveloped. Yet he loves life. He can do anything he wants to do without regret. His enjoyments are so simple and require no ambition nor permission. He is truly a free human being! Can you imagine the pure pleasure of picking your nose....I can't either. It looks relaxing?


So let's say you just don't feel like wearing clothes for the rest of the day...... This is Tanner's attempt at undressing himself after I put him in his room for a "time out".  His underwear is stuck on his foot but no big deal!

And sometimes a person needs some alone time to relax and feel content. And the hum of a vacuum and the feel of the motor's heat is heavenly.

If I had half a brain I would quit paying attention to the pressures of life and listen to the white noise of radio static and the back ground monotony of CSPAN and the hum of the clothes dryer and the faint drone of classical music and the undertone of Mary Poppins intro music and the buzz of a Nintendo game... all at the same time! This is what Tanner does. Every second of every day he needs background noise to drown out the silence.
Since I have a whole brain I go quite crazy

Serious Plans

Hailey has been making a lot of important decisions lately. She is making choices that I didn't make until I was out of high school. Words like "concurrent education" and "college credit" and "accelerated program" never even entered my mind when I was sixteen. In fact, getting an associates degree while enrolled in high school was unheard of in my day. Already Hailey has decided on a career, enrolled at Weber State, and is planning on EMT and CNA certifications so she can work while waiting to get accepted to a Radiology Program.

All the while Hailey is still having fun. She gets to drive the 2003 BMW to school and therefore has total freedom to be wherever she wants. When I'm curious, which is often, I locate her phone on google maps and she is always where she is supposed to be. Wow.

The very best news is that she doesn't have a boyfriend!  But she still goes to dances with her buddies and hangs out and plays co-ed soccer year round. I couldn't be happier. 

Still, the most valuable thing I could ask for is that she is reliable and conscientious and I never have to worry about her. She helps me with Tanner and I know that he is safe in her care.

Serious Money

So it's been 14 years since Tanner's last dental check-up. And it's not because I'm neglectful. It's because Tanner has become big and strong like a bear and I wasn't quite sure which dentist would be willing to loose a couple of fingers. So I googled "autism dentist" and found a brave soul who understood the challenge. Of course we all knew that Tanner would have to be seriously sedated at a serious hospital but the silly dentist wanted to "just have a look" in his office first. I'm still not sure if the visit was a success. As soon as Tanner realized he was cornered he summoned crazy animal strength and threw us off him as if we were mere flies. The dentist didn't even get his little mirror in there. Like a pro, I drug Tanner out of the office while the office lady shouted "we'll call you!" Right.

But true to her word, the office set up an operating room time at the children's hospital and coordinated with our ENT to roto rooter Tanner's ears at the same time. So Tanner went to the serious hospital to be seriously anesthetized for a simple cleaning and 2 minor cavities. When we saw him in the recovery room he looked like an adult. His big hairy body was sprawled out and he wasn't as cute as the other little darlings in the beds next to him. I guess in another 14 yrs, when I get his teeth done again, I will have to take him to the big boy hospital.



Operating room charge, Recovery charge, Hospital charge, Anesthesia charge, Dentist charge,
medications and equipment.......$7,000!

This Is Iceland!

2015 ICELAND

WHY I CHOSE ICELAND:

Everybody knows that I love warm water, warm weather and warm colors. Everyone knows that I love the sun and the white sand. And it's not that I wanted to punish myself, but I did want to test myself. Instead of the familiar comforts of the southern, tropical countries I chose somewhere drastically different, a place known for it's chill and it's rain and it's darkness. Iceland sounded different and turned out to be different in so many amazing ways.
Hailey and I travelled around the island for nine spectacular days. We watched as the landscape dramatically changed every thirty miles, from craggy lava fields to brilliant green mossy mountains to tumbling glaciers to jet black beaches to crashing waterfalls to baby blue hot spring pools to steaming volcanos. We stayed in eight different guesthouses across the country and tried in vain to correctly pronounce the names of  towns, roads and landmarks. This was a great trip. I'm glad I took the chance.

This is Reykjavik, the bright capital of Iceland. These many vibrant colors must help the mind during the dark winters.

This is the countryside with eye-popping greenness...

One of dozens upon dozens of waterfalls. Some delicate and wispy, others thunderous and powerful

All beautiful, All different

Sometimes there was just beautiful desolation, wind swept nothingness

And then soon we would run into something truly spectacular!

OR something unearthly and a bit spooky

So much water in every form, fresh glacial rivers coursing toward the crashing sea

We felt the life of a dormant volcano, heat waves shimmering from the mountain like a furness

We walked on infant earth, only 40 years old

Did I mention lakes? Yes Iceland has a lot of those too

And finally...the warm water. Geothermal pools in every Icelandic town

ICELAND HAS IT ALL!

Family Fun In Sun Valley

It's that time of year when the Hosenfeld dynasty packs up and hits the road for adventure. This year we travelled to Sun Valley, Idaho where there was plenty to do every day and every second. The parents set us all up in a couple of posh condos right at the base of Warm Springs ski resort. As always my hyper active family kept us busy for four days straight.

After being on the road for 5 hrs we were greeted by my mom urging us back into our car. It was time to go do something already. In the twilight we watched the kids swing from an iron bridge barely skimming the cold river water. It was sparkly.

Next day we indulged our children by taking a horse ride through the mountains. 

Next day we rafted the Salmon river

Next day we hiked to a lily pond

Then on our way back home we stopped at "Craters of the Moon" and got fried by the heat of the sun

So, as always, our adventures were diverse and super fun.  From green, forested mountains to black lava fields.....

From a modern swimming pool at the condo to riding the rapids of a wild river....

From a lush lily pond to a dusty horse trail...

Thanks Mom and Dad